Explosive
by brezel11
Summary: Tony comes back late from the coffee shop without any coffee at all. Gibbs and the others are shocked by his explanation. Spoilers for Season 4.
1. Stay Where You Are

**Explosive**

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AN: English is a very nice language. I love to read it, I can't speak it, and I just tried to write it. Please be kind with me and my story. Any mistakes are mine. Feel free to correct me. If you like the story, please review. If you don't like it, please review. Thanks! 

The characters I toyed with are not mine. I promise to put them back in the shelf when I'm done.

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**1. Stay where you are**

"Hey Tony" McGee said as he saw his co-worker entering the bullpen. "You _forgot_ to bring the coffee?" he added in disbelief, seeing that the expected tray of cups was missing.

"Hey. Couldn't make it to the coffee shop in time, sorry" Tony answered without looking at McGee.

"Well, Gibbs won't like that. He'll be back any minute …"

"What got between you and your date with the coffee shop lady?" Ziva interrupted. "You were the one who wanted to fetch the coffee so much that you nearly fell over your feet in your hurry, yes?"

"Where's Gibbs anyway?" Tony ignored Ziva's invitation to their usual bantering. He looked around nervously instead.

"Waiting for his coffee, I assure you". McGee said. "He'll be even more pissed than he usually is when he had to deal with legal department …"

"Yes, DiNozzo, I can't think of any reason why I shouldn't be pissed because you promised to bring coffee _one hour ago_." Tony turned at the voice of Gibbs coming from behind.

"Don't headslap me. I have a reason." Tony said in a hurry.

"You better tell me then why you have abandoned your search of the victim's car just for _not _bringing any coffee!" Gibbs demanded.

"You have a look at this." Tony held out a disc between two fingers. His hand was shaking.

Gibbs looked at Tony, noting that he was rather pale. He took the disc and gave it to McGee. "As soon as you've found the victim's car. We have other priorities right now" he stated.

"No. You have to look at it now. It's important" Tony's voice was a trifle too loud and held a hint of anxiety. He had stepped back in the direction of the elevator he had come from.

Ziva, who had been following the conversation from her desk, was suddenly alerted. Something in Tony's behaviour was weird. She could almost smell his fear. Tony might choose to act like he was afraid of Gibbs most of the time, but Ziva knew he had no qualms about saying what he was thinking if he thought it was important. So what was Tony's fear about?

"Not nearly as important as closing our current case. So make a start and stop standing there as if you had nothing else to do". Gibbs sat behind his desk, picking up the phone.

Tony made two strides forward, then stopped abruptely. "No. Take this damned disc and have a look at it …" he insisted almost desperately.

"What was that again?" Gibbs' voice sounded really dangerous now. If he hadn't been pissed before, he now certainly was, McGee thought. Ziva was standing in front of her desk. She had noticed that Tony seemed to sway a little.

"Jethro, please. Look. at. this. disc!" Tony said in an urgent voice, clutching the edge of his own desk now.

Ziva and McGee looked at Gibbs, knowing that there had to be a very good reason for Tony to use Gibbs' given name. They had never heard Tony speak to Gibbs like this before.

Gibbs glared at Tony for another moment, then took the disc and held it out to McGee. "See what's on it. Bring it on the plasma."

"No!" Tony almost shouted, gaining the attention of a few other agents in the room. "Not the plasma, McGee" he said in a lower voice. Gibbs looked at him, clearly questioning the mental health of his subordinate.

"Want to add something to explain your behaviour, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said in his 'don't make me regret I asked' voice. A hint of worry travelled over his face as he saw that Tony had lost nearly all of his usual color by now. "McGee? Something interesting on that disc?"

"Uh, yes, Boss. There seem to be some photographs … wait a moment. There." McGee pointed on his monitor where several picture files where listed.

Gibbs and Ziva joined McGee behind his desk while Tony remained standing in front of his own working place, his pale face now shining with sweat.

"Sit down, for heaven's sake" Ziva said to Tony. "What's wrong with you? You seemed to be perfectly healthy when you left for the coffee shop!" Normally Tony would have noticed and commented on the worried expression with which Ziva looked at him, but he seemed to be occupied with things unknown. He looked very absent, staring into nowhere, listening to some voice only he could hear. He didn't react to her question at all.

McGee opened the first picture file. It was a photograph of Tony, his expression frightened, wires going over his body which seemed to connect somewhere on his back. They looked at each other and then at Tony almost in unison.

"DiNozzo. Over here", Gibbs commanded. When Tony didn't react, he stood and went over to Tony's desk, causing him to take a few steps further away. Tony held his hands up in a averting gesture. "Don't touch me, leave me alone. Just look at those frickin' pictures" he said in a desperate whisper.

"Uh - Boss", McGee interrupted. "You really should have a look at this".

Ziva and McGee stared at the monitor in disbelief. Gibbs shot one more look at Tony before he got to McGees desk again, looking at the photograph of a big poster with cut-out newspaper letters sticking on it.

"Special Agent Gibbs", it read. "When you read this, Agent DiNozzo is standing next to you with a bomb attached to his back. If you don't do as I say, I will press the button. Ask him for more information."

Once again Gibbs turned towards Tony, fury mixed with sorrow showing on his face. "What?" he asked simply.

"Stay where you are", Tony said hurriedly as he saw Ziva and McGee coming towards him. "I'm completely wired. He can hear everything you and I say. He can see what's going on. We are not to draw attention to us. You are to let me go immediately. He just wanted you to know I'm in his power now. I don't know what he wants. I couldn't see him. He came up behind me on my way back from the coffee shop." Tony was speaking faster and faster, as if in a hurry to end his explanation before something happened. "He threatened to throw a grenade into the coffee shop. He pulled me into a black Mercedes - didn't see the plates by the way - and …" Tony suddenly seemed to be in pain as his body trembled slightly. Then he adopted his absent expression again, listening to what must have been another command from the man he had been talking about.

"Tony …" Ziva started, ready to try and disarm the bomb.

"Don't. Please, Ziva, don't." Tony had enough experience with Ziva disarming bombs to know what she wanted to do. "If you touch me, he'll press the button. If anyone comes near me … it's not worth dying over, remember?" He tried to smile but wasn't succeeding. "I have to leave now. Timer is running. See you later …" He turned and made for the elevator.

"Tony …" McGee called after him, making Tony to stop once again. McGee was looking at him, horror written on his face. He held up his cell, ready to throw it at Tony. "You forgot something?". Tony looked at him and gave a little nod. McGee threw his cell in Tony's direction, but Tony never caught it. Even before he could reach for the flying object, he doubled over, shaking from head to toe. Gibbs, Ziva and McGee started to reach out for him when he finally sank to the ground, still trembling. "Damn", he said weakly. "Nice try". He closed his eyes, only to open them again as he obviously listened to the man making new demands in his ear.

"Time's up", he said. "I have to get out of here before anyone gets hurt". He tried to get up, but his legs wouldn't obey him. "Shit. No - don't touch me" he almost shouted at McGee who clearly wanted to try and help him.

"DiNozzo. Give me your bloody mike". Gibbs lost his patience with the whole situation. "I want to speak with this scumbag personally!".

"Don't know where it is, Boss", Tony stated. "Want to search me and trigger the bomb?" he asked rhetorically. "Sorry I forgot your last coffee before dying." He started to sound really desperate.

Gibbs ignored the sarcasm. He knelt beside Tony. "Whoever you are, my agent isn't able to walk out of here, thanks to you. Now what exactly shall we do?" he asked, his voice full of contempt.

Ziva and McGee stared at the men on the floor, trying to shield them from curious looks of the other agents. Tony was listening again. He tríed to get up and sighed in frustration as none of his body parts seemed willing to cooperate. "No. No way" he said, obviously talking to the man in his ear. The answer was another seizure which left him trembling and with a bleeding lower lip.

"What does he want?" Gibbs asked impatiently. "No point playing the hero. This isn't one of your movies, DiNozzo!"

Tony briefly closed his eyes. "He wants one of you to come with me", he said with a resigned voice. "You can't let this happen, Boss. I'll get out of here alone. I have to." Once again he tried to stand and failed.

"I'll go with you", Ziva stated matter-of-factly. She didn't even look at Gibbs for his approval. "Get up." She reached for his arms to help him to stand.

"Ziva". Tony looked up at her.

"Don't even try to Ziva me", Ziva said softly. "Gibbs?"

Gibbs looked at her, trying to read her motives, finally reaching a decision. "You'll be searched, you know."

"I know. I'll still have a few surprises left, yes?"

Suddenly Tony reached for Ziva's hands. "Only 15 minutes left. Gotta go!" Ziva helped him to stand, supporting his weight by lying his right arm around her shoulders. Then they awkwardly took a few steps in the elevator's direction. "Nobody is to touch me besides Ziva. He says no tricks and no followers or he'll …"

"… press the button. Yes, we know by now." Gibbs paced back and forth in frustration. "Go. We'll find you. Ziva - watch your six. Tony." He looked him in the eyes, knowing there wasn't time to say all he wanted to say. "See you."

McGee watched Ziva and Tony disappear in the elevator. As the car's doors closed, he heard Gibbs punching his desk with such violence that the files lying on top slided to the floor.


	2. Out of Touch

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AN: Thank you very much for all your encouraging reviews! They are really appreciated. Special thanks to someone2666 - there will be an improvement to punctuation. 

Just to answer a few questions: There won't be any shipping, I think, besides a hint of Tiva. And of course I can speak English when I want to. It just sounds too German - you know what I mean -, so I better leave the speaking to you ...

The characters are still not mine.

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**2. Out of Touch**

Jenny Shepard had had just left MTAC when she had sensed something weird going on down in the squadroom. Leaning on the handrail she had watched Agent DiNozzo sinking to the floor, his teammates gathering around him and speaking to him without once touching him. Gibbs had seemed to be really pissed. Not that this was any unusual state for her best agent to be in. She had watched Ziva David helping DiNozzo to his feet and struggling to get him to the elevator. McGee had been standing dumbstruck as his co-workers left.

Now she saw him retrieving something from the floor - obviously a cell phone. Gibbs was gathering some files that had flipped off his desk while he had tried to break his hand on it. This was not good, so much she could tell. Flipping her own cell open she made a call to security.

---

Once they got out of the elevator, Tony and Ziva headed for the exit.

"Agent DiNozzo." One of the guards was approaching him.

Tony shook his head. "Sorry, Tom, we're in a hurry."

"Agent DiNozzo, the Director wants to see you ASAP," the guard insisted.

"I'm afraid she has to wait," Tony answered impatiently, slowly limping towards the doors while half dragging Ziva with him.

"Hey, easy, I'm supposed to help you!" Ziva tried to disentangle herself, noting that DiNozzo was obviously able to walk by himself again. Two more guards moved themselves between Tony and the exit while Ziva tried to shake off the third by explaining they had matters of life or death to deal with. Having heard certain rumours about Ziva David, Tom gladly left the pair to his colleagues and called the Director as she had requested.

When he snapped his cell shut, Agent DiNozzo and Officer David had their weapons drawn and were disappearing backwards through the doors, leaving his colleagues and the stunned bystanders in no doubt they would fire their guns if hindered to leave the building. He hadn't noticed the woman that had slipped out right behind the two of them.

---

"Abby. Now." Gibbs said to McGee when his agents had vanished from the squadroom. "And take that disc with you." Gibbs didn't say another word until they had reached the lab.

"Gibbs!", Abby exclaimed. "How nice of you to drop by. How can I be of service today? Did Tony find out where the victim's car is?"

"No, Tony didn't find anything except trouble - again. Abs, McGee has some pictures to show you. Find out where they were taken. And McGee, I want to know all about that damned disc."

"On it, Boss." McGee had already expected to find himself doing the impossible "do-dah" thing again. He turned to ask a question, but Gibbs had already left the lab. Abby stared at the closing doors. "I hate it when he does that. How am I supposed to do my best without knowing anything?" she complained to her mass spectrometer. She turned to McGee. "Pictures?" she asked.

McGee already sat behind one of the lab's computers, inserting the disc and opening the picture files. Abby stared in disbelief on a wired Tony. "What's going on with him?" she demanded to know. McGee filled her in about what had happened in the bullpen a few minutes ago.

"And Gibbs let them go? With a bomb on Tony's back? I can't believe it!" Abby said. "Where did they go? What will happen to them? Will we ever see them again? We can't just let them explode, can we? We have to do something about it … we have to … oh Gibbs. We'll have to go to another funeral … if we ever find the pieces … I have a bad feeling about this, a very bad feeling …" She was working herself into a typical Abby frenzy.

"Abs! Stop it!" McGee managed to insert. "We are supposed to work on finding them, aren't we? So let's start staring on those pictures and find something, ok?"

---

When Ziva and Tony stepped into the bright sunlight outside the NCIS building, none of them knew what to do next. The commands in Tony's ear had ceased as soon as they had reached the elevator. They stood on the pavement looking around when a black Mercedes stopped in front of them. A bald man with dark sunglasses lowered the window pane and motioned for them to get into the car. Immediately the voice in Tony's ear started to speak again. "Ziva, we have to get in. 8 minutes left," Tony said, sounding out of breath as if he was running along with the timer. "Ok, let's move," Ziva said, opening the rear door of the car and climbing in. As soon as Tony had closed the door behind him the car started and accelerated down the road. Noone spoke a word as they chased through the streets. Finally they turned into a parking garage. When the car stopped in the lowest level, someone wearing a mask opened the car's rear door and roughly jerked Tony out. He was handcuffed, then the masked person pulled off Tony's jacket and fumbled with the device on his back. After a few seconds Tony was pushed on the floor while Ziva was dragged out of the car. "Just in time," a man's voice said. "You had only two more minutes for me to stop the timer. But don't get reckless, lady, the bomb is still in place and the button's always in my reach. So better do not make me nervous."

He motioned for the driver to handcuff Ziva. "Nice to meet you, Officer David. Agent DiNozzo and I know each other already. Now behave yourself and forget all about your little Ninja skills, please." He searched Ziva, removing her weapons and taking her cell. "You won't need those here. Any false moves and your friend will suffer like this." He pressed a button on a little device, causing Tony to tremble and moan in pain. "There will be an increase in voltage if you are getting ideas. Am I clear?" As Ziva nodded with contempt in her eyes, the man switched the current off. Immediately Tony's body relaxed. He closed his eyes.

"Tony?" Ziva asked.

"I'm fine," Tony answered.

"I can see that," Ziva said as she knelt beside him, worry lingering on her face.

"Just don't get angry with them, okay?" Tony attempted to grin.

"As long as _you _behave yourself, all should be fine," Ziva replied.

"Sorry to interrupt your sweet conversation. Get up and move now," the masked man commanded while the driver aimed a gun at Ziva. With a little help from Ziva Tony stood. Then they were pushed towards an exit on the far side of the parking level. When the door closed behind Tony and Ziva they stood in the dark.

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TBC 


	3. Wires

AN: Thanks again for all the kind reviews! Though I appreciate them very much, you got me scared. I really hope I can live up to your expectations with this story ... However, I have lots of fun writing it. Any mistakes are mine, the characters sadly not.

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**3. Wires**

"Why are there so many wires? It won't need all those wires just for the bomb." Abby rubbed her eyes before again staring at the picture in confusion. "The bomb itself doesn't seem to be very complicated, don't you think?" She switched between the five photographs which had been delivered on the disc. "Deadly enough though, from the looks," she sighed, reaching for her CaffPow.

McGee was sitting next to her looking at the monitor. "Well, there must be the mike and a camera somewhere, but I think most of those wires are to … uh …I think they need them to …"

"Need them _what_?" Abby raised her eyebrows. "Is there anything you forgot to tell me, McGee?"

McGee shuffled in his seat uncomfortably while trying to find the right words for telling her that Tony had suffered electric shocks whenever something wasn't like the person in control of him wanted it to be.

"Uh - they need them to …" He decided to go for it, risking another Abby frenzy. "It seems like they give him electric shocks when they notice he does something he shouldn't. That's why he wasn't able to stand up or walk, so he had to take Ziva with him to help him. He turned to leave, and I stopped him. I wanted him to take my cell so we had a chance to trace him after he had left. Before he had any chance to catch it he was …" His voice trailed off as he replayed Tony sinking to the floor in his mind.

Once again Abby surprised him. Knowing how she reacted when someone or something threatened Tony, he hadn't expected her to hug him and say "Poor Tim. You couldn't know. It was a good idea, Tim. We'll find him. We'll find Ziva. And then I'd like to have some creative fun with those wiremen …"

---

"Don't even try to stop me," Gibbs told Cynthia on his way into the Director's office.

"She's expecting you," Cynthia told the office door that was shut with a bang from the inside.

Gibbs found Jenny Shepard standing in front of the window, staring outside. At the familiar sound of her door being mistreated she turned. "Jethro," she started. "What's going on with Tony and Ziva?"

"What do you know about it?" Gibbs shot back.

"I watched your team behaving very strange half an hour ago. Since I was worried I took the liberty to order security to stop Agent DiNozzo and Officer David from leaving the building and send them up to me. It seems they left nonetheless in a somewhat western-like fashion, threatening the guards with their service weapons. So please tell me this is just DiNozzo having fun with a beautiful woman." Jenny looked at Gibbs, her low voice barely hiding her worry.

"I need to speak with those guards and have a look on the footage of the security cameras," Gibbs said. "Someone has wired DiNozzo to a bomb and is threatening to blow him up. Whoever threatens him or us wanted DiNozzo to show up at NCIS and then leave again. Seems to be some sort of statement."

"Why has Ziva gone with him?" Jenny asked.

Gibbs explained the incident that had caused two of his team members to disappear.

"Is Tony injured?" Jenny wanted to know.

"There weren't any obvious injuries," Gibbs replied. "Dr. Mallard should be able to tell us how those electric shocks may affect DiNozzo's health."

"Well, as bad as this is, I trust Ziva to handle the bomb when she gets the opportunity," Jenny said.

"She's got to handle DiNozzo first. He seemed to be near to freaking out. He certainly wasn't his usual self," Gibbs stated.

"Let's hope that nothing's happened with that bomb yet. Tony and Ziva are able to wriggle out of this situation. We'll help them as best as we can. The footage from the hall's cameras will be send to Abby to check. Please keep me updated, Jethro." Jenny paused, looking out of the window once more. Turning, she said, "If anyone contacts you about this, let me know."

Gibbs looked into her eyes enquiringly. "Jen. Is there anything I should know about?"

As Jenny shook her head, he made his way out. Jenny waited a few moments before picking up the phone.

---

"I'm right behind you, Tony," Ziva said. They were standing in a staircase, their slowly adjusting eyes barely able to see the faint glimmer of light coming from a source further down.

"Good. Just don't touch my back, Ziva," Tony replied nervously.

"Don't be such a baby. Where's the point in blowing us up in a staircase three storeys below the ground with noone watching?" Ziva retorted.

"Sorry, I forgot you're an expert with this whole explosion thing."

"Being an Israeli does that to you, believe me."

"Can't you work one of your Mossad miracles with those handcuffs?" Tony asked.

"I was searched, remember? I don't have my miracle tools with me right now, sorry. And I can't imagine groping around in the dark looking for a needle or a hairpin is so much fun when being handcuffed."

"Too much information. Now we all know what you need to open those handcuffs, Ziva."

Crap. She should have thought of that.

"I take it they disarmed you, too? Or do they just assume that you won't be dangerous with that bomb on your back?" Ziva said, trying to distract him from her mistake.

"Yes, they've taken all my hairpins, Ziva. Sorry to disappoint you. My gun is gone too, by the way. They took it when we got off the car."

That was clever. He hadn't mentioned his knife, so he most likely still had it on him.

"So what now?" Tony wanted to _do _something, concentrate on anything that would distract him from the threat on his back. "There aren't any kind suggestions coming to my ear for once." Tony turned and tried to open the door they had just stumbled through. "Locked," he stated. "Let's try upstairs. Perhaps we'll find an open door to any of the other parking levels."

Ziva had already moved, trying to find the handrail leading upwards on the opposite wall. She had just climbed a few steps when she realized that Tony wasn't following.

"Come on, Tony. What are you waiting for?"

Ziva heard a soft moan. "Tony?"

"I'm still here. Somebody thought it wasn't a good idea to go upstairs, I think." Tony's voice sounded forced.

"Okay, I'm coming down again." Ziva cautiously felt her way back to where Tony had been standing. Only that he wasn't standing anymore. She heard his shallow breathing below her and found him kneeling on the concrete floor, trying to hold himself up against the wall.

"Sorry," Tony whispered. "You should run for it. There's no reason for you to stay with me."

"Nice try, Tony. Why is it you are suddenly so afraid of being touched by me?" Ziva groped for his shoulders, glad the perps had handcuffed their hands in front. "There were times when you couldn't think of anything else."

Tony winced when he felt Ziva awkwardly taking his right arm and trying to support him to stand. "This bomb thing just makes me a bit jumpy," Tony said, finally standing again.

"Downstairs?" he asked.

"After you," Ziva said, her hands on his right shoulder. "Don't want to lose you in the dark again."

As they made their way towards the dimly lit doorframe they could see by now, Tony tried hard to think of a way of getting Ziva out of this.They couldn't even plan to get out of this mess without being overheard. He didn't want to drag Ziva down with him. He'd always liked being undercover on his own because there was only him to take the risk. But he simply had to face it - Ziva was here, heading into the unknown with him. He had to do his best trying not to get her hurt. Not that she needed much assistance on that matter.

Ziva felt Tony hesitate as they approached the door. His shoulder send a slight trembling through her hands. She didn't know if he was still aching from the latest shock or if he was just mentally exhausted. Probably both, she decided. What a mess they'd gotten themselves into. She had no idea what they were going to do. But since she had volunteered to go with him, she'd better do her best to get him out of here in one piece. In the light of the doorframe she could see his profile now. He was tired. He was afraid. But as he turned to look at her she got a glimpse of his usual expression when in danger in the field. Concentrated and determined. There was still enough of DiNozzo in him. Good.

The door was unlocked. Finding themselves in a narrow hallway, they just had to decide which of the four doors ahead they wanted to open first.

Or not. The voice in Tony's ear was back, commanding them to the first door on the right. As they stepped into the little room behind it, they were greeted by a tall man in a black suit who was standing opposite the door with a remote and a gun.


	4. Suspicions

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AN: Thanks again for your kind reviews! I'm really glad you like this story. I'll be a bit slower now that the plot thickens, and I only hope the story and I can find our way through ... 

I'll toy with the characters for another little while, but they are not mine.

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**4. Suspicions**

Gibbs entered the lab at full speed, carrying two cups of coffee and one large container of CaffPow. "McGee, anything on the disc?" he asked, putting a cup besides the keyboard on which McGee's hands were typing frantically.

"Sorry, Boss," McGee said without looking up. "It's just a simple disc without any hints of its origin, without any prints, and it has never been used before. But we had a closer look on the pictures …"

"There are five of them," Abby interrupted. "The first shows Tony with those wires, the second is this weird letter. On the third you can see the shock device they are torturing Tony with - well, we _think _it is. The fourth and the fifth show the bomb in all its glory. It's like they wanted to give us all the details in case we had to disarm it." She held out her hand, prompting Gibbs to hand over her CaffPow.

"Have you found any information on where the pictures were taken?" Gibbs placed the CaffPow on the desk, right out of Abby's reach.

"Gibbs! I'm supposed to drink that, science needs to be fuelled!" Abby complained.

"Give me something to work with, Abby. Have you looked at the security footage yet?"

"Of course." She motioned for Gibbs to look at another monitor, pressing buttons to get the video started. "See our boy entering NCIS. He's looking quite normal, I'd say, but ..." Abby paused dramatically, stopping the video. "... he forgot to scan this woman. She's quite his type, and he practically fell over her, but he didn't stop, he didn't smile at all, he headed straight for the entrance ..."

"So?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"So he wasn't his normal self at all!" Abby said triumphantly.

"Ya think, Abs?" Gibbs said sarcastically. "Go on."

"Here he passes security without being scanned ..." Abby commented.

"How did he do that, by the way? They surely would have noticed the bomb," McGee interrupted.

"He smiled," Gibbs said absently, intently watching the security video.

"He could bring in a nuke and they wouldn't notice it," Abby stated. "He's made friends with all of them. He just smiles and there he goes."

McGee sighed. Life _was _unfair.

On the monitor they could see Tony reaching the elevator now. They knew what had happened next. Abby fast-forwarded the video until they could see Tony and Ziva stepping out of the elevator. On their way to the entrance they had a little chat with one of the security guards, Tony looking very tensed. They reached the exit to find two more guards blocking their way. There seemed to be a short argument before Ziva and Tony drew their weapons, aiming them at the guards. The guards stood by, clearly confused, while the agents made their exit. A few moments later Abby stopped the video.

"Go back five secs," Gibbs demanded.

"I _knew _you'd see it," Abby said, grinning.

"Yes, I did. Who is that woman? She got into the building right behind Tony and she departed immediately after Tony and Ziva left."

"And you don't believe in coincidences. We're on it, Gibbs."

"She's not in the NCIS database, so she doesn't work here. I'll show her picture to the guards. Perhaps they know her," McGee offered.

"Ask them whether they've noticed any other useful detail while you're at it, McGee. Meet me when you're finished."

The last words were subdued by the sound of the closing lab doors. Abby took a picture of the mysterious woman out of the printer and handed it to McGee.

"Good luck with that. I'll have another try on those newspaper letters. I should be able to trace the newspapers they are from, perhaps we can go further from there." Abby sighed. "It takes too much time. I don't like it."

"I don't like it either, Abs. Hope we get a few answers soon." McGee said. "We don't know anything about what's going on out there. It's weird. They haven't made contact yet, we don't know what they have taken Tony for and whether they have any business with Ziva at all."

Abby looked at Tony's picture again. "Have faith, McGee! When Ziva has finished with them they'll curse the day they decided to mess with our friends," she said, resolution in her voice.

Think positive. That was what Abby was doing. McGee only wished he could cheer himself up quite as successfully. With a sigh he stood and made to leave the lab, only to be stopped by the 'ding' of one of the computers running a database search.

"I don't believe it," Abby exclaimed. "It's them _again_!"

"Not quite the answer we were looking for," McGee said, surprised.

"Gibbs is so not going to like it." Abby looked at McGee. With a cheerful "Showtime!" she picked up the phone.

---

The heavy security door closed behind them with a metallic sound. The small room was dimly lit by a computer monitor in front of which their captor was standing. Walking around the computer desk the man addressed Tony and Ziva. "You finally found your way in here. Welcome, Agent DiNozzo, Officer David. I would introduce myself properly if for the somewhat unhappy circumstances," he said, smiling brightly. "We are sorry for having to kidnap you, but it was unevitable. We want our little operation to run as smooth as possible tomorrow night."

"What operation?" Ziva demanded.

"Who is 'we'?" Tony asked at the same time.

"You must understand that I can't give you any further information. I hope you will return to your homes and your friends unharmed after the operation took place. It would be very unhealthy for both of you to know more than I've already told you. I suggest you make yourself at home while you have to wait. I must excuse myself now, I have another business to attend to."

With that he pocketed the remote. When he had reached the door, he turned to Ziva again.

"I am told you are short of hairpins, Miss David?," he said, handing her a thin metallic object. "Good luck. Oh, and better don't try to follow me out." Ziva, who had already been on her way, heard Tony's sharp intake of breath just before the man opened the door, seemingly unfazed by the two fully trained agents he had just turned his back to. She hesitated for a split second, in the same moment hearing Tony's urgent voice behind her, shouting "Go!"

Not looking back, Ziva took two fast strides to the door which was already closing. When she had reached it, a gun appeared in the narrow gap. "Don't go," the man said evenly and fired the weapon.

---

"Yes, again!" Gibbs allowed his fury to show in his voice as he approached the Director's desk, this time trailed by Abby and McGee. He hadn't even bothered to shut the door.

"Madam Director, may I ask you to kindly share your information concerning this woman?" he said sarcastically, placing the printout on the desk with a force that rattled the pens lying on top of a pile of papers.

"There's no need to start a pissing contest, Special Agent Gibbs," Jennifer Shepard said, lifting the picture and placing it upside down on the desk again. "We may as well have a civil conversation sitting at my conference table. _If you please_."

Gibbs glared at her for a moment, then invited Abby and McGee to sit. He took a seat at the far end of the table, leaving as much space as possible between his place and the Director's chair. When they all had taken seats, Cynthia appeared through the still open door, carrying a tray of coffee cups.

"I really would like to offer you something stronger, Jethro. But coffee will have to do, I'm afraid."

"You can't get yourself out of this with a cup of NCIS coffee, Jen."

McGee shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Gibbs was pissed. Of course he had been pissed the whole day - but it obviously could get even worse. He hoped for the Director to have a good explanation, preferably about the whereabouts of Tony and Ziva.

Abby finally chose to shortcut the conversation. "Why is it that an FBI agent is watching Tony?" she said, accusation in her voice.

"You think so?" Jenny said, her stare never leaving Gibbs' eyes.

"We know," McGee said. "This is Special Agent Kristin Parson. We have her on tape. Twice today, and every so often for the last week. She always comes in after Tony and she leaves when he does. Did. Uh ... Left ..."

"What does she do in the meantime?" Jenny interrupted McGee's struggle.

"You don't _know_?" Gibbs' question shot over the table, almost causing the air to sizzle.

"Believe me, I don't. I can make an educated guess, though," Jenny said.

"So are you telling me we have a FBI agent showing up every single day since God knows when who disappears into a black hole for the day and emerges ready to follow DiNozzo wherever he's going after work? And you can only _guess _what happens?"

Abby and McGee turned their heads left and right as if watching a tennis match. This could have been fun if it hadn't been for their missing friends.

A most uncomfortable silence fell. 'Staring contest,' Abby thought. Unfortunately staring wouldn't do the job. "Do you know then what this woman is up to?," she tried again.

"It's complicated," Jenny stated.

"Trust the two of them to figure it out," Gibbs said, pointing at Abby and McGee. "I'm sure they will explain it to me." He was so furious now that he had switched completely to sarcasm mode.

Jenny sighed. "The FBI are investigating an organization named 'Hunter' for dealing with weapons which have disappeared out of Army depots throughout the United States for the last two years. One of our own teams discovered that there may also be a Navy connection concerning both missing weapons and involvement of personnel. We considered an undercover operation to gather inside information about who is selling to whom and when, but we never started because an informant told us that there seemed to be a really big deal coming up in the very near future. Time was too short to get a successful undercover op up and running." Jenny paused to take a sip of her coffee.

"Of course I was never briefed on the FBI investigation officially, but I have connections that often come in useful. And that's the point where the guesswork starts. I have reason to assume that the FBI began to monitor DiNozzo because he most likely would have been the agent going undercover. They probably decided to follow him to gather information they weren't able to get in other ways. I think this woman was assigned to observe DiNozzo, and she might as well have seen or heard something concerning his disappearance. Perhaps she has even traced him down to where he's now."

Again silence fell. McGee stared on the table surface trying to come up with an equation to describe the wood pattern. Abby toyed with her ponytails absently, trying to figure out where 'mystery woman' had hidden during the day and whether she had been following Tony when investigating a crime scene.

Gibbs stared at Jenny unflinchingly. "So have you just started to suspect that some FBI agent is probably messing with an undercover op of ours which is not even taking place, or is this common practice between Federal Agencies nowadays? I can't imagine they are so out of work now that they have the time to watch our agents doing their jobs!"

"Why don't you ask your friend Fornell? I was getting suspicious because of something I had heard at a meeting the other day. But, as you well know, the pissing contest between the Agencies' Directors isn't quite the right place to get the information we need now. Do contact Fornell on that matter. I'm sure he'll help you find his agent if you use your famous persuasive skills."

"Just as I had to persuade you to share your damned suspicions, Jen? I'm going to find Kristin Parson _now_, and I only hope she can help us find DiNozzo and David." Gibbs pushed his chair back and headed for the door. McGee made to follow him. Abby didn't move at all.

"Today, Abby!" Gibbs sat as impatiently as he would ever get with her.

"Gibbs. There's no black hole at NCIS." Abby said happily.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gibbs growled.

"Kristin Parson. She's not dematerializing during the day. She just fits in like a chameleon."

"Of course!" McGee's face lit in a big smile. "She's with security!"

"Does this mean you haven't spoken with the security guards yet?" Gibbs sounded like he could kill with his voice.

"Uh, Boss - we just - uh, we were ... Right. On it now, Boss!" McGee left the office, followed by Abby.

"Jethro." Jenny stood now. "I have no hard facts."

"You have your gut, Jen. It's just as good as mine. Next time, tell me."

"I can't run this agency by gut, Jethro. And next time I won't tolerate your behaviour. This is my office, my agency, my rules. My door, by the way." She smiled.

Gibbs gave a lopsided grin in response. "If you have more information about that Hunter organization ..." he began.

"Ask Hershey. Her team is investigating. And I will make a few phone calls. If anything comes up, you'll be the first to know."

"Thanks," Gibbs said ironically. Pensively, he added: "You would have sent DiNozzo undercover, wouldn't you?"

"If there had been time, yes."

"So what if those Hunter people think he's involved?"

When Gibbs had finally left Jenny was alone with her rather unpleasant thoughts about what would happen to DiNozzo if this assumption proved true.

* * *

TBC 


	5. Another Box

AN: Sorry for the wait. First I had a few fights with the plot, and then the NCIS part of my brain was overloaded with "Grace Period". Hope you like it still - reviews are greatly appreciated.

The characters are mine to dream about ...

* * *

**5. Another Box**

The deafening gunshot was immediately followed by the clicking sound of the closing door. Though his ears were ringing Tony heard the turn of the key which made this room their prison for ... never mind. This wasn't important right now, because he had to get to Ziva, and he couldn't. He tried to move, but all he was able to do was to cry out in frustration. His muscles still trembled from the recent shock.

"Ziva! Are you hurt? Ziva?" When he heard her speak he almost fainted with relief.

"I'm okay, Tony. The bullet nicked my arm, but I don't think there's much to worry about once the bleeding has stopped," she answered.

Ziva's voice sounded quite normal, but he couldn't see her face. He wasn't as good at reading her when he had to rely only on her voice.

"Move over here, I wanna have a look at that," he demanded.

"Move yourself," Ziva returned. "I'm busy."

"I'm gonna pull rank on you, Officer David. Move!" he said again. "Because I can't," he added in a low voice.

For the first time since her unsuccessful attempt at escaping Ziva looked at Tony. He sat on the floor as if he had slid down the wall he was sitting against. His body was trembling slightly. Their eyes met. She could see that he was quite embarrassed.

"Sorry, but I really can't." Tony said, frustrated.

Ziva stood awkwardly, swaying a little. Her face was pale. When she had managed the few steps to where Tony was sitting, she sank to the ground with a sigh.

"Okay, I think you're losing blood much too fast. We have to dress this up now," Tony said, looking worriedly at Ziva's left upper arm. "This would be the right time for using your precious hairpin, sweet cheeks."

Ziva wordlessly reached for his hands, hairpin dangling between her lips. With a few quick moves his hands were free. While she was tampering with her own handcuffs, Tony tried to take off his shirt, only to realize that he still couldn't coordinate his muscles to do something useful.

"Was it that bad this time?" Ziva asked, helping him out of the shirt. Tony only swore in reply. When she had carefully removed the shirt she had a look at the bomb for the very first time, strapped on the t-shirt he wore underneath. "This really doesn't look good," she said quietly.

"I don't care how it looks as long as it doesn't blow us up," Tony said. "Use my shirt to bandage your arm, Ziva." He watched her dressing her wound, hating himself for not being able to help. "You okay?" he asked when she was finished, trying to move his right arm in her general direction.

"Good to go," she replied briskly.

Tony looked at her expectantly. The silence lasted about a minute.

"Okay, it hurts. I'm tired. I could use something to eat ..."

"I knew it. You're human," Tony said ironically. "Want to sit beside a bomb and rest?"

Ziva looked at him. "Don't we have to do something about this?" Her gesture covered the small room.

"I can't and you won't. Get some rest now, we can worry later," he said. Seeing the exhaustion on his face, she silently complied and sat beside him against the wall. Suddenly she felt dizzy. When her world began to revolve around her, she let her head sink on Tony's shoulder and lost conciousness.

---

"Need to borrow our agents now, Fornell?" Gibbs said, at the same time bringing the elevator to an abrupt halt.

"I wouldn't do that, Gibbs," Fornell warned. "This elevator is known for his resistance to start again once it's been stopped. Besides, our conference rooms are quite comfortable."

"Trying to distract me? I don't need a conference room for dealing with the FBI, Tobias."

"If you'd waited a half hour longer we would've been standing in your own cosy elevator, Jethro."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gibbs gave Fornell one of his first class starings.

"Two of our agents are missing." Fornell looked straight at the elevator doors.

"So now we have something in common, Tobias," Gibbs said sarcastically.

"Go on. You first," Fornell prompted. "You came to me after all."

"Yes, because this is about one of _your _agents, Fornell. _Mine _are perfectly able to take care of themselves!"

"Then why worry about Kristin Parson?" Fornell asked.

"Because she followed DiNozzo for at least a whole week. I want to know why." _Besides, I'd really like to know why DiNozzo didn't notice he'd been watched_, Gibbs thought. "And of course I want to know where Parson is now, because I'd like to ask her a few questions."

"I have a few questions to ask her myself, believe me. She was observing DiNutso because we wanted to know if he was or would be under cover with the Hunter organization. We thought we could find out a few things about our own man."

"Your own man? You saying you have an undercover agent in there yourself?" Gibbs said, disbelief in his voice.

"Yes, we have. Unfortunately, we've lost contact to him a week ago."

"So you tried to use DiNozzo to find him. Ever thought of asking him? Or me?"

"Asking NCIS for help? You know the people at the big desks. They don't want to share what they think will be a big success. They wanted this to be a FBI success, not to lose an agent undercover. Following DiNutso seemed to be the fastest way to solve our problem."

"But it wasn't. DiNozzo's nothing to do with Hunter."

"Parson figured out that much before she disappeared. She was due to contact us this morning, but she didn't. She hasn't answered her cell phone since."

"She was at NCIS today. She followed DiNozzo when he left the building at 1415. We haven't seen him or Officer David since."

Fornell considered this for a moment. Then he looked at Gibbs for the first time. "So we have to find Parson because she might know where DiNutso and David are. And a few other things."

"Yes. And we should do it fast. There's a bomb ticking," Gibbs said. "We keep this quiet?"

Fornell nodded, flipping the emergency switch. After a few seconds the elevator decided to comply. "I'll come with you."

_'Campfire over'_, Gibbs thought as they left the elevator heading for his car. If only this had been one of DiNozzo's silly campfires ... He'd really like to find out who had known of the plan to send Tony undercover and who had told the FBI about it.

---

Ziva stirred, opening her eyes to the dimly lit room they were sitting in. She shivered, realizing the cold that was creeping up her legs. Her head was resting on something hard and bony. She sat up straight and examined her injured arm. Blood was seeping through the makeshift bandage. She sighed.

"I think I can help you this time," Tony said tiredly, taking her arm and removing the bandage carefully. The wound was still oozing blood. "This must be hurting quite a lot," Tony said, looking into Ziva's face, worry in his eyes.

"It's just a scratch," Ziva said decidedly.

"Yeah, but I know how those scratches hurt," Tony said with a grin. "We're boxed in again, Ziva."

"Don't remind me," Ziva replied. "Let's have a look at our box then." With that she stood, supporting herself against the wall. After her head had cleared, she reached out for Tony's hand, helping him to stand. Together they took stock of the room's interior - which was not much. On a small desk stood the monitor which was the only source of light, showing a test pattern. In a corner they found a few bottles of water.

"Looks like we have to somehow bring Mr. Creepy back here if we want to escape," Tony said.

"I don't think we can do anything but wait - again," Ziva replied. "This guy didn't look as if he would return with dinner."

A sudden flicker of light alerted them to the desk. The monitor came alive, showing a picture of the NCIS squadroom.

"I don't believe it," Tony said. "That has to be a live feed from one of the security cameras."

They both watched, stunned, as the phone on Gibbs' desk rang.

---

"Gibbs," he said impatiently, hoping it was news from Fornell.

"Special Agent Gibbs," he heard a distorted voice say. He immediately gestured for McGee to trace the call. "We have two of your agents in our custody. They will remain so until tomorrow night. Don't do anything to jeopardize our secret operation and they will return to you. If you interfere with our organization in any way, you won't see them again."

* * *

TBC 


	6. Hunting

AN: I'm glad I finally managed to upload this chapter - FFN wouldn't let me for the last three days. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks to all who reviewed!

The characters are still not mine, except for Kristin Parson, who I seem to have lost ...

* * *

**6. Hunting**

The picture on the screen had frozen and finally been replaced by the test pattern again, but Tony and Ziva had remained staring at it, both deeply lost in thought. Eventually Ziva turned and grabbed a bottle of water, then sat down against the wall facing the door.

"Sit down and drink something," she said, waving the bottle in Tony's direction. "You look like you'll collapse soon. Have you slept at all?"

"Couldn't. You snored," Tony replied, picking up a bottle for himself.

"_Sit down_. You're making me nervous," Ziva said, ignoring the bait.

Tony sank to the floor beside her with a sigh. "I deserve the right to make you nervous. I'm a walking bomb, remember?"

The strain in his voice reminded Ziva of the events in the squadroom a few hours ago. She could tell he had been frightened then, an emotion she had never seen on him before. Since then he had tried to conceal it, to deal with it the way he usually did, joking, teasing, and acting the hero. But now it began to show again. She looked at him. He was sitting with his arms folded around his knees, his forehead resting on his arms, eyes closed.

"Is he still speaking to you?" she asked.

"Didn't hear him since the door closed," Tony replied without looking up.

"Was it the man who was waiting for us here?"

"Don't know. Voice was distorted," he said. "What's this all about? If I'm gonna die I'd really like to know why ..." His voice trailed off.

"You're just tired, Tony. Nothing makes any sense at the moment, but we'll figure it out. You told me to relax last time. Remember your 'Gibbs will find us' mantra?"

"Last time we weren't stuck with a bomb."

"I think they still need us for something, otherwise we'd be dead by now," Ziva stated.

"Very comforting, Ziva, thanks."

"Look, I'm trying to lighten your mood. I know that's not my greatest strength, but I'm trying, right? Get some sleep now and dream of a big greasy pizza. I'll wake you when something happens."

When Tony didn't react she placed her arm around his shoulders and pulled until he came to lie on the floor on his side, his head on her thighs.

"Ziva ..." he said hesitantly.

"Just don't drool on my pants, my little hairy butt," she answered.

"_You _told me to dream about pizza." Tony's voice held a hint of sleep already, but she could imagine the grin on his face although she couldn't see it. As soon as he was asleep she'd have a closer look at the bomb.

---

"Sorry, Boss. Time was too short to trace the call. Must be in DC though," McGee said.

"And this helps us how, McGee?" Gibbs replied impatiently. "Got any news from security?"

"Uh - yes, Boss." McGee stood and walked over to Gibbs' desk. "Kristin Parson joined security two weeks ago. She hadn't been announced, but security checked with personnel and all seemed to be correct. Her papers had been signed by someone who was on vacation at this time, but noone had any suspicions about her. She said she'd been hired to help with the surveillance system. Most of the time she was working on the system, including the computers. That's how she was able to hack into our system, I think."

"She hacked into _what_?" Gibbs said, intensifying his already icy glare to something acid-like.

"Abby is working on it. We're tracing her way through our computer network. Looks like she's manipulated documents, but we can't be sure yet what else she might have done."

"Has anyone seen her since DiNozzo and David left?"

"One of the guards saw her when Tony and Ziva got in the car. But he couldn't tell me what she did when the car had left. They haven't seen her since."

"We have to find her _now_. She's our only lead." Gibbs stood. "Go help Abby. I'll speak with Hershey about this Hunter organization. Someone should better be able to tell me what this is all about."

On his way to Agent Hershey Gibbs stopped at DiNozzo's desk, staring at the empty chair. Their relationship had changed after he'd come back from Mexico. It had become quite distant. But change or not, there it was, the knot in his stomach. DiNozzo was missing. Tony. Again. He picked up a post-it from DiNozzo's desk, covered with Ziva's handwriting. _You noticed you're being followed?? Z._

He wasn't sure why Ziva had wanted to go with Tony. They had formed a friendship of sorts which was nothing like the relationship McGee had described in his book. As bad as it was to have both of them missing, he was glad they were together, standing a much greater chance to stay alive adding their individual strengths.The phone call had been unnerving in its lack of information, but at least it seemed Tony and Ziva were still alive.

---

Snoring gently, Tony was blessedly unaware of Ziva inspecting his back. Her fingers moved carefully, both to avoid waking him and alerting anyone to what she was doing. There was a theory forming in her mind about why nothing more had happened to Tony since 'Mr. Creepy' had left them alone, but she wasn't ready to put it to the test without Tony's consent.

The bomb should be rather easy to disarm. What worried her were the wires the bomb didn't seem to account for. When she asked Tony to let her tamper with the bomb she wanted to be sure not to put them in danger by cutting any of the other wires. She sighed. They would have to try this the hard way. Where was McGeek when you needed him?

Her left arm was throbbing. She checked the bandage. The bleeding seemed to have stopped. She just hoped the wound wasn't infected. The headache lurking behind her forehead would be bad enough without adding a fever. She leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. She'd get some spy-mode rest, ready to return to full conciousness in a split second. At least that was what she had intended to do when she heard someone coming.

---

"We're on and off the case for six months now," Agent Hershey ended her roundup. They were sitting at her desk, her two team members watching from their own working places, now and then contributing to her explanations. Investigating the Hunter organization had proved to be very difficult. They had come to know a few of its members, but these were clearly not the ones who made the decisions. There had to be at least one person higher up in the command chain of the Navy who controlled some of the operations. But they hadn't any clue so far who this would be, and there were also hints of Army personnel involved, so still noone had any idea who was the head of Hunter. The team had requested authorization for an undercover operation, but then they had discovered that the organization was about to shut down after one last deal. They had tried to confirm dates without success.

"We have reason to believe this deal is about to happen tomorrow night," Gibbs said.

"Could be. Our information came from the buyer's side, perhaps the date wasn't fixed then. How did you come across Hunter?" Hershey asked.

"Hunter came across DiNozzo. We're still working out why. He's missing, together with Officer David." He filled her in about what had happened so far.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Gibbs. Sure Tony isn't undercover? Wouldn't be the first time noone else knows ..."

Gibbs' eyes held a dangerous glimmer. "Yes, I'm pretty sure, Agent Hershey, since he's not quite crazy enough to walk into the squadroom with a bomb voluntarily, is he?"

Agent Hershey looked at him. "I've heard some rumours," she stated finally.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Gibbs said sarcastically. "Anyone I catch spreading them ... " He didn't need to finish the sentence for they all knew better than to cross Special Agent Gibbs.

"I'll get you the files concerning the Hunter organization, Gibbs. Anything else I can do to help?" Hershey asked, trying to change the focus before Gibbs was really pissed. The man was quite unpredictable when it came to his team members being in danger. And she had to admit she quite liked DiNozzo when he wasn't in skirt chasing mode. She was not so sure about Ziva David. This woman was somewhat creepy with her spy attitude. Luckily David was on Gibbs' team, and they seemed to get along well. Anyway, she was DiNozzo's problem right now. She only hoped they found him in time. And her, of course. Hunter seemed to be like a black hole, holding captive information as well as people.

Gibbs stood, looking down at her. "I'll give you a call if I need something else." With a curt nod he turned and made for the elevator.

---

"Abby, tell me something." Gibbs demanded, walking in so fast that the resulting breeze blew some documents off her desk.

"Bossman." Abby turned to look at him, her usual enthusiasm subdued by the worry that was showing in her face. "Got some news?"

"Nothing, Abbs. Anything on Parson?" he asked, noticing McGee staring at a computer screen where lines and lines of code were passing by.

"Well, she's not in the Matrix, Gibbs," Abbs told him, grinning. "But ..." she paused for effect.

"Abbs?!"

"... she's very good, although not nearly as good as Team Abby. She's hacked into our computer network three weeks ago. We found traces that she manipulated a document concerning a planned undercover op ..."

"Yeah, making believe Tony was about to go undercover," Gibbs interrupted.

"Exactly," Abby stated. "Then she went for personnel files, inserting her persona into security staff, forging security clearance, this kind of things."

"And she manipulated the output of the surveillance cameras in the squadroom," McGee added, "at least one of them. There's a video signal going somewhere outside NCIS."

"Where to, McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Don't know, Boss, sorry. We'll try to track it down," McGee replied absent-mindedly. He was still staring intently at the screen. "Something's weird, Abbs," he said reluctantly, pressing a few keys. "See this?"

"McGee!" Abby shouted in amazement. "You found her!"

McGee was typing frantically, highlighting a string of code now and then. Abby stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders. They both seemed to have forgotten Gibbs.

"McGee?!" Gibbs barked impatiently.

"Sorry, Boss. We just, uh, found her - she's still in our computer system. We can see what she's doing right now. Must be ... somewhere in this building ... wait a moment." He looked at Abby who nodded.

"Gibbs?" she said. "Want to arrest someone?"

He motioned for McGee to take the lead. "Good work," he said to Abby when they left the lab.

"I'll keep her busy," Abby called after them, already hitting keys. Suddenly she paused, looking disbelievingly at the screen. Crap. Parson was really good. She must have noticed they had traced her.

Silently she willed Gibbs and McGee to hurry.

* * *

TBC  



	7. FairyTales

AN: Thanks for the reviews - auch für die deutschen Kommentare vielen Dank!** - **I'm happy about every one of them and I like to read about what you think.

The characters are still not mine. Those who are won't stay for long ...**  
**

* * *

**7. Fairy-Tales**

Tony stirred but didn't wake as the door to their prison opened. Three people entered the room, as Ziva had expected from the sound of the footsteps in the hallway - 'Mr. Creepy' and the two men they had encountered when they had been brought to the parking garage.

They stopped, flanking the door Mr. Creepy was closing. He turned and looked at his captives. "Wake him," he snapped at Ziva, all politeness gone from his voice.

"Why?" Ziva asked. "Are we going somewhere?"

"No. We're going to find out something. Better wake him before we have to do it ourselves," the man said menacingly.

Ziva bent down to whisper in Tony's ear. "Time to get up, DiNozzo. Pizza's finished." Tony stirred and this time opened his eyes. Adrenaline made him sitting upright immediately at the sight of the three men standing in the little room.

"How did it get so overcrowded in here all of a sudden, Ziva?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. "We're quite unprepared to entertain our guests."

"Don't worry, we'll entertain you right away," Mr. Creepy said. "Get up," he commanded.

Ziva watched as Tony came to stand in front of the man, apparently totally relaxed, a slight grin on his face. "You gonna shoot me, you better aim this time," he said.

Ziva got up fast, leaning against the wall, asking herself why the hell Tony was provoking their captor.

"Are you tired of Miss David?" the man answered. "When I want to kill, I do so. I just slowed her down." With that he gave his henchmen a look, motioning them to take care of Ziva. "Don't underestimate her, she's good," he warned as they moved to stand on either side of her.

"What's your name?" Tony asked him. "I'd like to know who's pressing the buttons here."

"None of your business," his opponent replied curtly. "Now you'll stop annoying me and answer my questions. What were you currently working on at NCIS?"

"None of your business," Tony replied without hesitation, mimicking the other man's voice.

"I told you to stop annoying me," the man said, a remote suddenly in his hand.

"No," Ziva called out as the man pressed a button to send Tony into a spasm. Tony doubled over, barely able to remain standing. After a few seconds he propped himself up again slowly, taking a deep breath.

"Just a warning, DiNozzo. Answer my question."

Tony looked at him for a moment, rebellion in his eyes. "I was searching for a car," he said finally, clearly not intending to elaborate.

"You'll have to give me more information, I'm afraid."

Tony remained silent, watching his surroundings intently. When the man was about to use the remote again Tony kicked out, sending the device flying through the room. It crashed against the wall and came to lie at the door. Ziva suddenly jumped forward, crossed the room and picked up the remote before the men guarding her could react.

"Stop it," Mr. Creepy said calmly, gun drawn. "You wouldn't want me to shoot your partner, would you?" he asked Ziva. "Put down the remote, please."

Ziva's look locked with Tony's as she slowly crouched to place the remote on the ground. He smiled encouragingly, giving her a barely perceivable nod. Before her guards had reached her, Ziva had removed the battery with a fast, deft movement, then stomped on the remote with full force. The device shattered with a crunching sound.

"And what makes you think I won't shoot your partner now?" the man said. "Restrain her," he commanded. "I told you not to underestimate her." Pointing his gun at Tony's head, he watched as Ziva was handcuffed once again. She winced, closing her eyes, as the men grabbed her arms tightly regardless of her wound.

"Back to our question, Agent DiNozzo. I'd prefer you concentrate on the answer."

"I told you, I was searching for a car," Tony said in a bored voice, not turning his gaze away from Ziva. "The car belonged to a murder victim whose death we're investigating."

"You were not working undercover?" the man asked.

"Me?" Tony looked at his opponent again, slightly confused. "That's not the kind of case for undercover work, really."

"I'm not convinced you're telling me the truth, DiNozzo. What were you working on?"

"I told you, I was searching for ..." The sentence came to an untimely end when his arms were jerked back and held in a strong grip behind him by one of the men who had been guarding Ziva.

"Would you like to try again?" Mr. Creepy asked politely, holstering his gun.

"Okay ... the car was a dark-blue Chrysler Voyager ..." Tony started when a fist connected with his stomach, forcing the breath out of his lungs. "Wrong answer, I think," he panted, struggling against the restraining hands.

"Were you working undercover?"

"No, I wasn't! I told you ..." The fist hit him again, harder this time. He sagged in the grip of the man holding him, trying to breathe.

"Stop it," Ziva said angrily. "He wasn't working undercover, he told you the truth. You won't get another answer."

"Do you think so, Miss David? He wouldn't necessarily talk to you about it, would he? A top secret mission perhaps?"

Ziva looked at Tony who stared back, his expression unreadable. No. This couldn't be. She would have noticed. He would have told her. She would have been his backup. Gibbs wouldn't have sent him undercover without backup. Tony was her partner after all.

Then again he had been undercover for Jenny without their team knowing anything about it. Being secretive was a trait she'd never have expected of him when she'd started working with Anthony DiNozzo.

Tony saw the shadow of doubt flicker over Ziva's face. He knew she thought she could read him anytime and was slightly pleased to see her realizing it was not as easy as that. Yeah, he definitely was able to beat her at her own game once in a while. Not that it mattered now. He tried to concentrate on the task at hand - find the answer they wanted to hear. Preferably before they found another button to press.

"There's no top secret mission," he said slowly, articulating very meticulously as if explaining something to a child. "I was working on a plain case of homicide which doesn't require the tiniest bit of undercover operation, believe me."

"Let's try another way of finding the truth, Agent DiNozzo," his captor said, unfazed by Tony's statement. Leaving Tony in the grip of his henchman, he went to confront Ziva, grabbed a handful of hair and pulled, forcing her to look at him. "You won't get another answer," she repeated derisively.

"We'll see," the man answered and hit her face with the back of his flat hand, his ring leaving a bloody scar on her cheek. Ziva closed her eyes briefly, willing her body not to betray the pain. The next blow hit her wounded arm, causing her to gasp. When she was hit in the stomach, her vision began to blur. Distantly she heard Tony protesting furiously while her body took another few blows. She struggled against the grip on her arms, but it didn't losen for a second, and when she tried to kick she was forced onto her knees, facing Tony who was still looking at her, horror in his eyes.

"Do you want to tell me another fairy-tale, Agent DiNozzo?" the man asked.

"How'd you know which one's the fairy-tale?" Tony answered.

"You certainly have a point. Shall we continue then?" He turned around to face Ziva again. "He was working undercover, is that correct?" he asked her. Her rather weak "No" clashed with Tony's resolute "Yes". Immediately she was released. Sinking to the ground, she stared at Tony in disbelief. "You weren't," she whispered before she passed out.

---

On their way up Gibbs had called security to shut down the building in order to prevent anyone from leaving. As it had turned out, this had been the right call. They had opened the door to the small room which housed both of security's computer servers to find it deserted. Kristin Parson had left, and from the looks she had been in quite a hurry. McGee had called up the log files to check on what she had been doing while Gibbs had waited for security to call him with news about Parson's whereabouts.

They had finally got hold of her when she had tried to leave through an emergency exit to the parking lot. Now she was sitting in an interrogation room, engaged in a staring contest with Gibbs, waiting for him to speak.

"What is Gibbs waiting for?" Abby asked impatiently. "It's not like we have time in abundance."

"He's marking his territory," McGee answered ironically. "Parson's FBI after all. She's quite good at staring herself, I'd say."

"Gibbs is the Master of Staring," Abby stated confidently. "Shouldn't Fornell be here?"

"He prefers not to know that Parson's been found," McGee replied. "But he wants the tapes."

"Hinky," Abby said just as Gibbs decided to break the silence.

---

"She's _so _screwed," Abby said to nobody in particular nearly an hour later. They had listened to Parson's story with increasing disbelief which was now slowly changing to something verging on fury on Abby's part. "They risked Tony's life to protect their own agent? I wonder when exactly Gibbs will shoot her!"

"Maybe Fornell will beat him to it," Jenny replied. She had joined McGee and Abby shortly after Gibbs had started the interrogation. "She's on his team but he apparently knew nothing about what was going on."

"I could quote a precedent for this," McGee said without thinking.

"And what exactly are you speaking about, Agent McGee?" the Director replied, eyebrows raised.

"Uhm, nothing. I mean, I know nothing, uh, about, you see ..."

"Yes, I see, McGee. I know you've been curious about something Agent DiNozzo is involved in, but it's strictly need to know. And I'm not risking any FBI agent's life by this assignment, I assure you."

"Uh, yes, I mean, never mind." McGee decided to try again from a different angle. "So Tony's secret assignment isn't the reason for his present ... situation?" he asked.

"No, it's not. And that's all you need to know, Agent McGee," the Director answered. "But of course I'm as worried about Tony and Ziva as you are, Tim."

They lapsed into silence again while the interrogation finally came to an end. Jenny, Abby and McGee had watched Leroy Jethro Gibbs gradually lose his temper while more and more obscure details about a rather hapless FBI operation were unearthed. Parson seemed to be not too impressed by the Wrath of Gibbs, but as she was working with Fornell she probably was used to bad temper and knew how to deal with it.

As it had turned out, she was Fornell's resident geek, assigned by Fornell's superiors to protect FBI Special Agent Mark Ashen, currently undercover with the Hunter organization, whose cover was about to be blown. When the FBI agents steering this operation had realized that Hunter had intel about an undercover agent within their organization, they had decided to deflect the imminent danger by placing not so subtle hints that this undercover agent was Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS. Parson had used her working hours with NCIS security to provide the evidence that DiNozzo was the agent in question; at the same time some conscience had dictated that she should protect clueless DiNozzo from any danger those machinations could imply.

Except that DiNozzo hadn't been as clueless as he was supposed to be, which Gibbs had been pleased to realize. He had actually noticed he was being followed whenever he was outside the NCIS building. On the second day of her surveillance he had addressed her, asking why she was tailing him. She had told him some lies, implying that she had a crush on him, but he hadn't seemed convinced in the least. After that he had frequently made fun of her, grinning and waving at her mirror image in a shop window or bowing to her before entering the building again. When telling this part of her story Gibbs got the distinct impression that her crush on his agent wasn't the lie she believed it to be.

Today she had waited at the door of the coffee shop as usual when she had finally realized that DiNozzo wasn't in there anymore. Cursing herself - he knew that she followed him after all - she'd tried to find him, sure that he was up to something he didn't want her to witness, but she had had to finally acknowledge the fact that she had lost him. Heading back to NCIS, she'd spotted him speaking with a dark-clad man at the entrance before he had somewhat reluctantly stepped inside, alone. When he'd come back with Officer David, both of them guns at the ready, she had watched in bewilderment as the two agents got in a car and left at high speed.

"You got a look at the plates?" Gibbs asked, trying to damp the faint hope that they might actually get a new lead.

"Yes, got it," Parson replied. When she had recited the numbers Abby and McGee immediately left.

* * *

TBC 


	8. Leads

AN: As always, thanks to all who have taken the time to review - Danke!

I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter! I suffered from writing block (meaning that I knew what I wanted to write but couldn't bring myself to do it). Writing in English takes me very long because when I've finally put my ideas into words, I have to change each sentence at least twice, deleting much more than I actually write ...

Mark Ashen and Kristin Parson are mine. The rest of them have other owners.

* * *

**8. Leads**

McGee rubbed his eyes tiredly, noticing for the first time that it was getting dark outside. Five hours had passed since Tony had failed to bring them coffee. The lack of caffeine had been covered by enough adrenaline to keep him going, but gradually fatigue was taking over. Yawning, he reached for Abby's Caf-Pow! container, only to be slapped on his fingers.

"It's nearly empty. Go get another one," she snapped at him without turning her look from the computer she was working on.

With a hurt expression McGee stood just as the lab doors opened. The smell of food entered together with Gibbs who was carrying an assortment of paper bags and a Caf-Pow! container, followed by Jenny Shepard with a tray of coffee cups. They made for Abby's office.

"McGee," Abby said dreamily, turning to him with closed eyes, "I just had a vision about Chinese food and Caf-Pow!. What about you?"

"Stop dreaming and get over here," Gibbs said from behind, waving the Caf-Pow! in Abby's direction. "Anything new on the car?" he asked when Abby and McGee entered the office.

"Parson's working on it," McGee answered with a glance over his shoulder. "At least I hope she's not playing with our systems again." The smell of food reminded McGee just how hungry he was. "Eat!" Gibbs commanded, placing a container and chopsticks in front of him. McGee didn't need to be asked twice, knowing that their period of grace would soon be over.

"You know Tony will be sulking that he missed you buying us Chinese, Gibbs," Abby said, helping herself to some food.

"He'll get over it. I actually have to keep you alive to find him and Ziva. Where's Parson?" Gibbs asked.

"Gibbs! You won't feed _that woman_!" Abby said, dramatically pointing her index finger in Kristin Parson's direction. _That woman _was still sitting at one of the lab's computers, staring at the screen in concentration.

"Abby!" Jenny Shepard said in a mildly amused voice. "She's here to help you, so she has to be kept alive too." She went over to where Parson was sitting, inviting her into Abby's office.

When they were all seated on various pieces of interior, eating hastily and in silence, Gibbs found himself missing DiNozzo, realizing that this wasn't about how his agent could help working the case or about a missing subordinate who had to be found, but about DiNozzo being _Tony_, joking, bantering, enjoying the food, enjoying the company, driving him crazy. Why had they started to act like they were just co-workers when there had been - there was? - much more to their relationship than this? Ziva seemed to know more about what was going on with DiNozzo - _Tony _- than he did since he'd come back from Mexico. That secrecy thing Jen had imposed on DiNozzo - _Tony _- hadn't helped either. The trust they'd had in each other had been shaken, and although DiNozzo - _Tony _- had always been loyal to him, his loyalty occasionally had something forced about it now. He sighed, looking up and meeting Abby's eyes, realizing she had been watching him. "He will be okay," Abby said sincerely, putting down her food and collecting some printouts from her desk. "Campfire?" she suggested with a grin. "Tony and Ziva would love it."

---

Ziva tried to assess her surroundings by ear, listening hard for any sound indicating she was not alone. The already familiar soft hum of the monitor was the only clue that she was still in the same room. The guys who had questioned them seemed to have gone; she couldn't hear anyone breathing. That meant ...

In one too quick movement Ziva opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Bad idea. The world was spinning quite unpredictably in various directions and her headache had decided to remind her forcefully of its existence. The pain the rest of her body was in was competing with that headache for attention. She couldn't help gasping and letting herself sink back to the ground. With closed eyes she collected her strength and willed herself to try again. This time she succeeded in sitting up, but the nausea that overcame her immediately forced her to pause again. She felt for the wall somewhere behind her, shuffling on the ground until she came to sit against it. Waiting for the dizziness to subside, she opened her eyes again to see Tony lying face down in the middle of the room, one arm at his side, the other outstretched in her direction. There was no visible movement.

Her heart missed a beat.

---

Jenny could see they were tired, but she knew there was no point in ordering them to rest. Even Kristin Parson seemed determined to do her job regardless of how exhausted she was; the signs were clearly visible on her face. She had tried to identify the car's owner, only to learn that it had been rented. The fake ID of the man who had picked it up had led them nowhere so far.

Abby had chosen to stop being mad at Parson by now, seeing that she might well be able to help them track down Tony and Ziva and establishing contact with that mysteriously disappeared FBI agent, Mark Ashen. They hadn't found the car yet, but they had made some progress with CCTV footage which McGee was currently working on, trying to find out which way the black Mercedes had taken. At least they had the numbers to identify it without a doubt. As McGee had pointed out, there was a possibility that they found the car not too far away, considering the timespan of fifteen minutes in which Tony had had to leave the building and arrive at some place where the timer would be stopped. Had hopefully been stopped. Of course there was an even higher chance that the bomb had been dealt with in the car. But since there weren't that many leads, Gibbs wanted all of them covered.

Gibbs was gone to find some witnesses at a sidewalk cafe which the car had passed; a CCTV tape had shown the Mercedes race past that cafe, with quite a few guests clearly wondering about the obviously crazy driver. Gibbs had commented ironically that the driver really must have been in a hurry, not knowing how to disarm the bomb.

Abby was working on the video signal of the bullpen's security camera. Abby and McGee had delivered a lot of technobabble, brought to a halt by Gibbs demanding the Gibbs version. To everyone's surprise, Kristin Parson had explained that there was no permanent connection to the outside recipient. When Abby had angrily asked her how she possibly knew about that she quietly stated that she had come across the signal a few times since she had tricked herself into the NCIS computer network. "So we have to wait for another transmission," Abby had said, frustrated. "Or we find traces of the transmission," Parson had suggested. Abby had swung her pigtails in her direction, frowning at her. "_If _there are any traces," Parson had added cautiously. Giving it a thought, Abby finally had grinned approvingly. "Let's give it a try."

Looking at McGee, Abby and Parson working silently on their tasks, Jenny thought of the last time Ziva had gone missing. DiNozzo had been in charge then, and although she wasn't supposed to know about the conspiracy Tony had initiated in order to help Ziva, she still was impressed by the determination of this team to watch each other's back. She didn't know whether Ziva had come to fully realize the loyalty her team showed her, but she seemed to trust them now as far as a Mossad trained spy would trust anybody. Jenny had anticipated from the start that DiNozzo and David would get along well once they'd come to know each other, and they had proved quite a few times that she had been right to expect them to be one of the best two-agent teams at NCIS. She only hoped they were still able to show what they were capable of.

With a sigh she turned to leave the forensics lab. Time to have a little talk with Fornell.

---

"Tony." The whisper was all Ziva's dry throat would allow. She swallowed and tried again. "Tony. Say something."

There was no response. Ziva fought the rising fear with an attempt to get up, only to invite dizziness again. She waited for her sight to clear, then tried again, swearing softly in Hebrew when she put too much weight on her injured arm. Ignoring the pain from her various bruises, she finally managed to stand against the wall, panting. She still couldn't see Tony's face.

Slowly she began moving towards him. The nausea was overwhelming. She hoped she wasn't going to add the smell of vomit to that of drying blood which already lingered in the room. When she'd reached Tony, she knelt down beside him. Relieved to see him breathing now, she tried again to wake him.

"Tony. Tony! DiNozzo!" She touched his shoulder. He felt cold. His face was very pale except for his bloodied lips. His breathing was shallow. "What happened, Tony?" she asked him, trying to roll his body on his side to get a look at his chest and stomach. She only managed to hold him this way for a few seconds, but she had seen enough. Apparently he hadn't told them what they'd wanted to hear and he had received a beating bad enough to leave him unconscious. There still was the question about what should have been the right answer. It would be interesting to apply her own DiNozzo interrogation techniques to find out the truth.

She tried to make him more comfortable, but there wasn't much she could do. She sat down by his side, taking his right hand into hers. Looking down at their hands, she realized how much she had come to trust him. No matter how much he goofed around in and out of the office, he was a partner she could rely on. A friend she wanted to protect. Not that he wasn't fully capable of looking after himself - normally.

A friend. Had this been the reason that she had offered to go with him so readily a few hours ago? She hadn't even thought twice. She was sure he wouldn't have either, had it been her who needed help.

Unfortunately they weren't much help to each other right now. Sighing, she resigned herself to waiting again. She hated waiting for something to happen.

---

"McGee, I need you to check all CCTV footage available for the streets listed here," Gibbs said as he entered the lab again. "Two of the cafe guests saw the Mercedes turn left at the next intersection." Without looking away from the video he was currently watching, McGee held his hand out to take the piece of paper offered by Gibbs.

Turning to Abby, Gibbs came to stand behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Abbs, got anything on that video signal?"

She never stopped typing while she answered his question. "We haven't found out where it's going yet, _but _we will be able to catch the location once a transmission gets started. You can have McGee, I'll do with Kristin," she added, grinning.

"Too much caffeine speaking, Abby," Gibbs said, noting that McGee was so absorbed in his task that he hadn't even heard the insult. "Good work, Parson," he added. "Go get some sleep before Fornell gets hold of you."

"Boss, I have something." McGee's voice sounded tired and excited at the same time. He stifled a yawn as Gibbs made his way to the screen he had been looking at for the past two hours. "We have this picture from a CCTV camera located at a drugstore two intersections away from where your witnesses saw the car. Seems like they are turning right here." He looked at Gibbs expectantly.

"McGee. Don't play Abby's games!" Gibbs said, impatience written in his face.

"It's a dead end, Boss." McGee stated, calling up a map to show what he meant. "This road isn't going anywhere. Either the car is parking here or they have disappeared into that parking garage."

Gibbs was already out of the door. "Today, McGee! What are you waiting for?"

"Good job, Tim!" Abby said fondly. "Go get them!"

* * *

TBC 


	9. Blind Spot

AN: Hey again, I'm back. Thanks to all who still have the patience to follow this story. And thanks to you who make my day and encourage me to keep writing by reviewing - Danke! This chapter is dedicated to yllek who keeps reminding me very kindly that there are still chapters waiting to be written :)

And yes, I'll tell you again that at least half of the characters are not mine. The others might be mine but they keep surprising me by doing things I didn't think them capable of.

* * *

**9. Blind Spot**

"Fornell." With a nod Jenny Shepard greeted the visitor already waiting for her at Cynthia's desk. "I see you've made yourself at home already." With a small gesture she invited Tobias Fornell into her office where she went straight away to fetch one of the numerous bottles of liquor.

"I'm not sure we need glasses. I feel like downing at least one entire bottle," she said, motioning for her guest to take a seat.

"That sounds inviting," Fornell said. "I actually didn't know excessive drinking was NCIS SOP. Should I've brought my own bottle?"

"Since we have to keep our senses I suggest we stick to protocol and limit the excess by using glasses," Jenny said, pouring generous amounts of Scotch into rather voluminous vessels. "Tell me something I don't know."

"You have Kristin Parson. What did she tell you?" Fornell countered.

"She's still here, working with our forensics scientist. You can question her if you like."

"That's too generous, Director," Fornell said sarcastically. "Since the people I wanted to speak with are conveniently unavailable, I may have to resort to my very own agent to get some information on what the hell's going on. I must admit this operation seems really weird. All files concerning the op are either non-accessible to me or they have disappeared. I'm beginning to think ... "

"... there might be a mole?" Jenny completed Fornell's sentence, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah," Fornell admitted. "Perhaps Mark Ashen isn't who I thought he is. But I don't know him well. It could as easily be someone higher up. Knowing what's at stake there could be someone who tries to stall until the big deal is over by keeping Ashen out of the picture. But I'd need Parson to check on that. She's the one hacking whatever needs to be hacked when I want information."

"I never heard that," Jenny Shepard deadpanned.

"Did I say something?" Fornell answered. He downed his scotch in one swallow, putting the empty glass on the table. They both sat in silence for a moment, eyes locked, before Fornell resumed their conversation. "Can I speak with Parson now? _If_ she has survived Gibbs' interrogation, that is?"

"She's in the lab right now, I believe. Actually, Gibbs told her to get some sleep, but she didn't look like she'd follow orders."

"NCIS has already rubbed off on her, I suppose," Fornell said, raising. "Thanks for the drink."

"You're welcome. Do I get that we're working together on this now? Otherwise I'd have to deny that I ever saw your agent at NCIS."

"No need to blackmail me, Director. I want to know what's behind this as much as Gibbs does. I'm in."

"Good. Please follow me to Hacker's Den," Jenny said, leading the way out of her office.

---

McGee squeezed his eyes shut as they took the last turn into the dead end. When the sedan screeched to a halt in front of the parking garage he opened them again, thankful that the torment was over. While he understood the need for speed he wanted to live as much as he wanted to find Tony and Ziva.

When McGee got out of the car Gibbs had already disappeared into the parking garage. McGee hurried after him, arriving just in time to see Gibbs entering the janitor's room right behind the barrier. "Coming, McGee?" Gibbs called without turning. McGee caught the door just before it closed in his face and rushed in. Gibbs was already flashing his badge to two men sitting in front of several monitors showing different views of the parking levels.

"Special Agents Gibbs and McGee, NCIS. We're searching for a black Mercedes which came in around 1430 today. McGee?"

While McGee reeled off the details known of the car, Gibbs stared intently at the layout of the parking garage pinned on the wall, gathering information about emergency exits and rooms that could possibly be used to hide something or someone.

"This parking garage belongs to a well-frequented shopping mall, Agent McGee," one of the security guards was saying as his focus shifted back to the most pressing problem – finding the car to get a clue where to begin the search for Tony and Ziva. "I can't even remember which cars have passed the barrier two minutes ago. If you're lucky you may find your car on the security cameras' footage. We have five parking levels, so it'll take quite some time to find the car you're searching for, I'm afraid." The man seemed to be genuinely sorry.

"Well, if the car is still parking here, your cameras would be covering it, wouldn't they?" McGee said.

"That depends," the other guard answered. "We don't get every angle of the parking levels. Well, I know the management claims the cameras to cover every square inch, but you shouldn't feel too safe in here. We once had a mugging right in front of a camera and we didn't notice anything because it was in a blind spot. Cost a lot of money to make the victims keep quiet, I tell you ..."

"Sure the blind spot wasn't you?" Gibbs asked. McGee sighed inwardly. Trust Gibbs to piss people off just because he was too damned impatient.

The guard _was_ pissed off immediately. "Suit yourself," he said curtly, vacating his seat in front of the monitors and inviting them with a gesture to take his place. "It's black and white only. Just you know a lot of cars appear to be black."

"Thank you, Mr. ..." McGee said, already staring at the first monitor.

"Simmons," the security guard said gruffly. "I'm going to get some coffee."

"Tall, black, no sugar," Gibbs said absently, earning an incredulous stare from three pairs of eyes.

---

Kristin Parson looked like she'd fall asleep any moment, but her fingers seemed to fly over the keyboard on their own account. Every now and then she sipped on the Caf-Pow! Abby had given her. Abby was sure she had no clue what she was drinking – it was either that or it evidenced that Abby's long-held theory about only geeks being able to appreciate Caf-Pow! wasn't just a theory anymore.

"That's it," Parson stated suddenly, rubbing her tired eyes. "The security camera in your bullpen has been manipulated eight weeks ago. Look at that – you can see it wasn't me!" she said, sliding her chair to the left to make room for Abby who slid in place with hers.

"Strictly speaking it could still have been you. You could have manipulated our data again just to make it look like the camera was tampered with before you entered the picture." Abby turned to look at her face. "But hey, I like you. I know Gibbs tells us never to assume anything but he also believes in his gut. So I'll believe in mine and assume you're telling the truth. Does this make any sense to you?" she asked expectantly.

Seeing that the woman beside her had obviously no clue what she was talking about, she answered her own question. "No, it doesn't. Never mind. Just find Tony and Ziva and we'll be friends," she added.

"What's he like?" Parson asked.

"Gibbs?" Abby looked at her curiously. "You've got a very good impression of his usual ... behaviour when he interrogated you, I think. Well, he _can_ be sensitive and caring ..."

"Tony. I meant Agent DiNozzo," Parson managed to interrupt. Abby noted with interest that she was blushing slightly

"Oh," Abby grinned. "I understand. Tony ... You know, he _can_ be sensitive and caring. He's fun to have around. Mostly." She thought for a moment. "He's smart and tough and a _very_ special agent ..."

"... and he's completely nuts, Agent Parson," Fornell interrupted. "I would like you to concentrate on Agent Ashen instead. Agent DiNozzo has a whole harem to look after him."

Both women turned around to see Tobias Fornell and Jenny Shepard standing in the lab door. Kristin Parson rose slowly, staring at Fornell. "Sir?" she said tentatively.

"Nice to meet you again, Parson," Fornell said sarcastically. "Care to explain what you were doing recently?"

---

"Boss, perhaps the car is parked outside," McGee said after half an hour of staring at black, white, and every shade of grey cars, squinting at the license plates without getting anywhere.

"No, it isn't," Gibbs replied, taking a sip of his coffee without looking away from the monitors. McGee had been glad that Gibbs had at least managed to thank Simmons for bringing it. "Don't ask, McGee. I didn't see it when we arrived," he added.

McGee doubted that he would have been able to identify a car even if he hadn't shut his eyes when pulling into the street, but he knew better than to question the Boss' observing skills. "Then we'll have to watch the security footage," he sighed. "As if I hadn't seen enough of this today," he mumbled to himself.

"No," Gibbs stated. "We haven't got the time to watch every damned security tape in DC. Have an agent bring them to Abby. I want you to look at the building's layout and tell me where those blind spots would be!"

Gibbs was already standing in front of the large poster showing the layout. "Where are the cameras?" he asked the security guards.

McGee stood beside him brooding in silence while they were shown the location of the cameras. "This mugging – where did it happen?" he asked suddenly.

"It was right here." Simmons marked the spot with his index finger. "It could have happened on each level."

Gibbs had followed McGee's train of thinking. "Get moving, McGee. We're gonna look into those blind spots." With that Gibbs rushed out of the room, leaving McGee smiling apologetically at the two guards. Flipping his cell phone open he turned to follow his boss.

---

Fornell saw Sciuto frown at Shepard. Kristin Parson was nearly asleep on her feet, and from what she'd just told him he could imagine why. Growing more and more uncomfortable with the ongoing op, she had decided to dig deeper last night, finding some details his superiors had conveniently forgotten to tell her. Thinking about what to do next, she'd decided to stay under the radar until she'd figured out how to approach the matter. She had been very concerned for DiNozzo's safety, and she had desperately tried to contact Mark Ashen.

"I didn't know they were keeping you out of the loop until yesterday," Parson explained. "By the time I'd decided to fill you in, things were getting out of hand completely." She stared down at her hands for a moment. "We'd lost Mark already and then I lost DiNozzo too. It was too much to be just a coincidence. Someone is messing with that op. Or more likely, someone wanted this op to fail." She looked up, searching Fornell's face for any sign how he was taking this. Fornell seemed unfazed. Finally he spoke.

"We've been played, Parson. And we have company," he said, tilting his head in Shepard's direction. "FBI and NCIS both had a lead into that organization, and now we have nothing but missing agents. Just before a really big deal is about to happen. I tend to go with Gibbs on that. It's got nothing to do with coincidences."

"Someone wanted us to be occupied with finding our agents rather than mess with the Hunter organization. They even went so far as to keep one agency busy with monitoring the other on this case," Shepard said ironically. "I'd say whoever is responsible for that is doing a very good job – the question being whether this person is with NCIS or with the FBI."

---

Ziva's hands jerked back when she felt Tony beginning to stir. Relieved that she'd been able to finish her task just in time, she moved to kneel on his other side, watching his face. His eyelids fluttered and he moaned softly. "Ziva," he said hoarsely, eyes still closed.

"I'm here," she answered, laying her hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes reluctantly and tried to clear his blurred vision.

"You okay?" he asked, searching what he could see of her for any visible injuries.

"As okay as you are, I think," Ziva replied, eyebrows raised. "Oh no, don't try this," she said warningly when Tony struggled to draw himself up. Tony immediately knew what she'd meant when the nausea washed over him. He felt her hands holding him while he threw up.

"Sorry," he said, embarrassed, seeing Ziva's disgust. "At least I only dreamt about that pizza," he added, accepting the bottle of water Ziva handed him.

"Let's get you away from that ... stink," she said. She helped him to get up slowly. Tony faltered as pain threatened to overwhelm him. They moved awkwardly to the far end of the room which wasn't nearly as far as Ziva wanted to get away from the stench.

"You're not okay," Tony stated once they were seated on the ground, scanning her worriedly. Ziva let her head rest against the wall and closed her eyes. '_Just for a moment'_, she thought as exhaustion tried to take over. She winced when she suddenly felt a cool hand on her forehead. "Burning up," Tony murmured. "Your _scratch_ seems to be infected, Ziva. And there are quite a few bruises, I guess ..." He swallowed. "Ziva, I'm ..."

"Don't, DiNozzo," Ziva said tiredly. "No bones broken. It just hurts. And you got beaten up just as badly, from the look of it." She waited. Silence fell.

"Are you going to tell me what this was about?" she asked finally, glancing sideways at her brooding co-worker. She was a little annoyed at herself because that question hadn't come out as casual as she'd intended.

"I would if I knew," he answered, grinning slightly. "Bet this bothers you more than the bruises, Ziva." His grin got wider when he met her gaze. "Spygirl isn't happy right now, is she?"

He could definitely read her. Too well. Ziva snorted derisively anyway. "You can keep your pathetic little secrets to yourself, DiNozzo. Why should I be interested in something I got beaten up for?"

"Hey, I told you I don't know what they wanted," Tony said. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop them. I don't even know what they were talking about!"

"So you tell me. Then what did you _not_ say that made them so mad at you?" Ziva asked, eyebrows raised.

"Ziva. I. Don't. Know." He sounded upset now. "There's no secret I've been keeping from you about this. I tried to invent a good story, but they obviously didn't buy it. Look, I know I never should have gotten you into this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Ziva. I didn't ... " He suddenly rose and stumbled over to where he'd been lying. When he'd finally stopped vomiting he braced himself against the nearest wall, panting. "I counted. It was ... too much." His voice was barely audible.

"Tony." Ziva sighed. "I don't care how many times they hit me. I'm alive. I'm your partner and I decided to come with you." He didn't move. Ziva watched him trying to regain his composure.

After a while he looked up, meeting her eyes. For once there was no pretense, just honest DiNozzo. Those moments were still rare but came up more often recently. It was like he was tired of playing his usual games and wanted to relax into just being himself.

"So you invented an undercover op for them? What did you say?" Ziva said casually, trying to bring him back from his guilt trip.

There was a mischievous glimmer in his eyes when he started to make his way back to his place beside her. "It was a funny story after all. I'd tell you, but laughing hurts," he said, grinning. He sat down again, trying to find the least painful way to sit against the wall without putting pressure on the bomb. "You ready?" he started.

"Once upon a time there was a great agent in shining armour ..." Ziva didn't even get the end of the second sentence. By the time he was finished, her head lay on his shoulder. She was snoring. Again.

---

McGee had called dispatch for another two agents. One was on his way back to Abby with the security tapes. The other - Agent Hershey - had just found the car on the lowest parking level. McGee had waited for Gibbs to open the trunk. He had been afraid to find the bodies of ... No. It was empty. Leaving the car with Agent Hershey to process as a crime scene, Gibbs made for one of the four exits, gun drawn, signing for McGee to cover him bevor he opened the door.

---

The door opened with a bang, startling Ziva out of her nightmare. Tony was roughly pulled to his feet and his hands cuffed behind his back. He was pushed towards the door where Mr. Creepy stood with his gun trained on Tony's head. "Don't try anything," he hissed.

Tony watched helpless again as their captors manhandled Ziva up and to the door. "Move," Mr. Creepy commanded, pushing them into the hallway. With the two henchman behind him and Ziva they were forced through another door and out into what seemed to be a backyard where a white van was waiting, motor running. Ziva cried out when she hit the metal floor of the van. Tony was dumped beside Ziva. As soon as he'd landed painfully on his stomach he heard the doors shut and the van started to move. _'Not again,'_ was what he thought as he fought the need to throw up again.

* * *

TBC 


End file.
